balloint pen portrait

There was obviously no blogpost last week but I will try to combine the last two weeks in this blogpost. Due to a bereavement I just had no inspiration and drive to write something.

In the meantime I started to join a drawing challenge on instagram that is still ongoing until the end of february. The challenge by Karoline Pietrowski is about drawing facial expressions for a character every day. I really like doing challenges on instagram because there is so much to discover and it’s much more easy to get in contact or conversation with others. Also there is this topic for a whole month that you can discover and you can practice your drawing abilities and improve – not just with drawing your own works but looking at all the other artists works and how they translate a certain word or topic. So far I’m doing really well although I sometimes struggle with some expressions because I feel some are very similar and I guess I sometimes don’t get the right essence on the paper. My personal challenge was not to use gesture to support the expressions so sometimes, the faces just look sad when the are supposed to look offended, ashamed or touched. But that’s also what it’s about – working on your skills and realising in which areas you have to put in more work and effort. I guess when you also use some gesture with hands and arms you can convert a more accurate interpretation of feelings and expressions. I’m also very happy that I already made it this far. I made 19 Illustrations of my character yet, and there are still a few to come but I am really really confident that I can pull through until the end. I’m already thinking of doing another challenge in March. Are there any interesting challenges you know about? Do you think I should start my own challenge? Can you think of a topic?

I also Illustrated a few artworks for my newest project that I call “Take Care Of Yourself”. This is more a working title than an actual project title. It’s a series of illustrations about what you can do if you feel stressed or uncomfortable or just to feel better in general. I get stressed very easily and a lot. When I’m stressed I turn into a monster. I cry a lot and have bad moods. So it’s very important to reduce the stress by doing things I like and make room for nice things. With a relaxed mind I can be more creative and have more fun in general. A bit of “Me Time” is important for everyone. Take your time to calm down a bit and find things to do that are good for you. This is also a great chance to get to know yourself a bit better. Listening to your inner voice. Mabye becoming friends with youself. All that leads to new strength and confidence. And maybe everything will seem easier.
The first few illustrations I made are already available as prints in my etsy shop. You can use them as reminder or just as nice small poster to hang on yor wall beside your workplace or living room or even in the bathroom to see it every morning. I am very curious: what is something you do, to do something good for yourself, to calm down and relax and take time for yourself or even get to know yourself better?

At the beginning of the last week we went to ikea to get some new shelves because I desperately needed some storage space. Because we already have severals Kallax shelves at home we got a 2×4 and a 2×2 one to fit the “Style”. I also bought some more Dröna where I store all my paper, pencils and other stuff I need more regularly. It’s not perfect yet but it doesn’t look that messy anymore. The best solution would be a third room which I could use as an working room/ studio / atelier by itself, but thats just not possible yet. So I try to make more room by creating more storage space. The next project will be to make my desk a bit bigger. It always is loaded with stuff and it’s hard to clean everything up every time to have enough space to draw and put the laptop somewhere. Also it always looks messy because it is loaded with a lot of stuff that I need regularly, and well, who doesn’t like some decorations as well? I couldnt imagine my workspace without my stones and crystals anymore. If I can manage to expand the table plate I will also have the window right in front of me and that would give me some extra daylight for myself and for drawing and that would be awesome. And new plants. I just cant have enough of them. I want to have a Jungle at my workspace!

At the end of the last week I worked on a portrait commision. It was quite a challenge because I haven’t worked with a ballpoint pen in quite a while. I still love drawing with ballpoint pens and I guess I will do that more often again. For me it’s really relaxing and I get to see fast results. For this drawing with the size of Din A2 I needed about 7 to 8 hours to draw and I split the time up (because i had enough until I had to finish it) in three days. I also posted the process on my instagram stories by small videos. Of course I asked my client if he was okay with that. I am very happy how the finished artwork turned out and I also got a lot of compliments by my client and the family. If you are also interested in me drawing you or a family member or a friend, a loved one or just someone, let me know, you can write me a message or an email with your idea and we will figure out the rest together. I already drew portraits for birthdays, confirmations, anniversarys, weddings and that one was sadly for a funeral.

The last important thing I began to make last weekend was a video for my kickstarter project. I really was nervous in front of the camera and I really hate talking while I am recorded. I can’t stand to hear my own voice and I even cringe when I have to hear me talking. So my boyfriend came up with this idea for the video and I felt comfortable with it until I had to sit in front of the camera and see myself on the monitor. I just had some flashbacks from the time I made some youtube videos and remembered all the bad and negative comments I received back then. But this project is too important for me to not give my best and stepping out of my comfort zone and make a video. Although you obviously see that I read all my texts from a piece of paper I guess it is important to show a bit of myself and I hope I don’t seem too unappealing because I just dont know how and when to make the right face expressions or even talk in the right flow to make it interesting what I have to say. I really have some deficits in talking to people that i don’t know. And I also know that people notice this. There are -as always- too much thoughts in my head which will result in fear and anxiety. But I already made it through the video recording and I think that’s already a small success by itself because normaly that’s a thing I would try to pass by somehow and not work through.

Hier bloggt:

My name is Anja and I'm blogging about the random stuff i do like drawing and felting. You can find a lot of my art on this Blog. I'm currently working as freelance Illustrator and Artist and I'm open for your private or business commissions. If you are interested in my work please feel free to contact me.
Visit my Portfolio here:

I draw, illustrate, create and design for a living and i am always looking for new clients
If you are a band who needs a new album cover artwork or a new t-shirt design, a blog that needs some personal illustrations, a magazine that is looking for some new illustrators, an author that needs some artworks for your own stories and books, an art director who is looking for illustrations for new campaigns or an indie brand that needs a new unique handmade logo let me know if you like my style and illustrations and we can work together. Let's have fun!